[...hey, we did it in Atlantis...-L.]If you thought that the human engineering pseudo-science died out with its Nazi practitioners, think again. The concept is alive and well and being touted as a means to the creation of a human race more in sync with Big Brother’s ideal of a carbon-friendly humanity.

Prof. Matthew Liao of New York University’s Center for Bioethics touts “human engineering” as offering possible solutions to the politically correct green thesis that human beings are becoming a pest threatening the survival of planet Earth. In academic terms his thesis is that “the biomedical modification of humans makes them better at mitigating climate change” (Ethics, Policy and Environment, February 9).

In other words, if we can genetically engineer a species of much smaller human beings, it follows that our environmental footprint on planet Earth will be much smaller and hence the damage we are told we do to planet Earth will be reduced.

Is this guy really serious?

Sadly, it appears he is. He puts his argument this way: “We shall argue that human engineering potentially offers an effective means of tackling climate change …. [A] striking example of human engineering is the possibility of making humans smaller. Human ecological footprints are partly correlated with our size. … [A] more speculative and controversial way of reducing adult height is to reduce birth weight. … [P]harmacologically induced altruism and empathy could increase the likelihood that we adopt the necessary behavioral and market solutions for curbing climate change” (ibid).

Having apparently bought the whole politically correct argument that human beings are planet Earth’s principal pest, heating up the planet at an unacceptably accelerating rate by their general habits of living, Liao posits: “Anthropogenic climate change is arguably one of the biggest problems that confront us today. There is ample evidence that climate change is likely to affect adversely many aspects of life for all people around the world, and that existing solutions such as geoengineering might be too risky and ordinary behavioural and market solutions might not be sufficient to mitigate climate change.Read More

(Earth Magazine) In 1918, the Spanish flu spread around the world, claiming between 50 million and 100 million lives — more than 3 percent of the world’s population. The previous fall and winter, La Niña had brought cooler-than-normal sea-surface temperatures to the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. More recently in 2009, swine flu swept across the planet. Again, the widespread outbreak was preceded by La Niña conditions. This link might be more than coincidental, according to new research, and could lead to improved predictions of future pandemics.
In a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jeffrey Shaman of Columbia University and Marc Lipsitch of Harvard University note that La Niña can alter weather patterns and shift the migration patterns of birds. Such a rerouting of avian flu carriers could set the stage for the rise of novel — and deadly — strains of the virus, they say.
To examine the connection between La Niña and flu pandemics, Shaman and Lipsitch looked at the four most recent, well-dated human influenza pandemics — 1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009 — and then looked at El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the fall and winter immediately preceding the emergence of the outbreaks. The researchers found that, indeed, all four pandemics were preceded by La Niña.
The study is limited, however, by the paucity of data, Shaman says. With just four well-dated flu pandemics, the scientists say, it’s unclear whether the relationship is causal, and La Niña affects flu, or coincidental, and the association arose by chance.
If it is causal and La Niña affects the development and onset of pandemic flus, one scenario according to the team is as follows: La Niña brings about cooler sea-surface temperatures and shifts wind and precipitation patterns across the expanse of the equatorial Pacific. Those local changes impact global weather conditions, which in turn affect the resources and habitability along the flyways of migratory birds. Previous research, for example, has found impacts on migratory birds’ health and fitness, molting times, stopover patterns and contact with other bird species.
Like a burned-out traveler on an international flight, stressed birds in the presence of new company are more susceptible to picking up viruses. Conditions for a pandemic arise then, when different strains of influenza simultaneously infect a single host in a process called reassortment.
“Like all viruses, influenza hijacks the cellular machinery of its host and uses it to make copies of itself,” Shaman says. Introduce two or more strains and the host’s cells can make a hybrid strain that’s “radically different, and which the world’s population has no prior exposure to and little immunity against. This new hybrid strain can spread very efficiently around the planet,” he says. “This is a pandemic.”
Shaman notes, however, that “the jury is still out” and more work needs to be done, such as examining the mixing between bird species, and rates of reassortment in response to ENSO. “But the hypothesis we use to explain the relationship makes sense and is testable,” he says. “If evidence from future studies supports this hypothesis — if the relationship is shown to be robust — then we have a framework for developing advanced predictions of pandemic influenza risk. This would enable governments and public health officials to time the allocation of influenza resources better.”
For now, only time will tell what, if anything, follows the 2011–2012 La Niña. “La Niña by itself is not sufficient, it’s just a state that may increase the likelihood of reassortment,” Shaman says. “Many downstream effects, such as changes in weather, in bird behavior, and convergence of divergent flu subtypes, would be needed to facilitate the reassortment that generates the novel pandemic flu strain.”

(Discovery News) The planet Venus has been dominating the nighttime sky recently, but did you know it's possible to see the bright world in the daytime? Today (March 26), Venus can be spotted in the afternoon if you know where and when to look.
In fact, a daytime apparition of Venus in the sky was famously spotted by none other than President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
It was March 4, 1865, and the streets of Washington DC were packed with crowds watching the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln for his second term as president. Suddenly someone in the crowd spotted something strange in the sky: a tiny brilliant point of light. Excitement swelled through the crowd as each person pointed it out to their neighbor. The commotion even reached as far as the Lincoln himself, and soon he too was pointing at the brilliant point in the sky.
One of Lincoln's bodyguards, Sergeant Smith Stimmellater, described it this way: "Soon after the President concluded his address, he entered his carriage, and the procession started up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, the escort from our Company following next to his carriage. Shortly after we turned onto Pennsylvania Avenue, west of the Capitol, I noticed the crowd along the street looking intently, and some were pointing to something in the heavens toward the south.[Great Skywatcher Photos of Venus and Jupiter]
"I glanced up in that direction, and there in plain view, shining out in all her star-like beauty, was the planet Venus. It was a little after midday at the time I saw it, possibly near one o'clock; the sun seemed to be a little west of the median, the star a little east. It was a strange sight. I never saw a star at that time in the day before or since. The superstitious had had many strange notions about it, but of course it was simply owing to the peculiarly clear condition of the atmosphere and the favorable position of the planet at that time. The President and those who were with him in the carriage noticed the star at the same time."
This week, nearly a century and a half later, you can duplicate this famous observation. The sky map of Venus in daylight for this story shows where Venus and the moon will appear at 4 p.m. relative to the sun.
Venus is quite easy to see in a clear blue daylight sky, if you know exactly where to look, and if you can focus your eyes on it. What makes today's Venus appearance special is that the waxing crescent moon will be right next to Venus in the sky, showing you exactly where to look, and giving your eyes something to focus on.
Here's how to see it:
Go out around 4 p.m. local time on Monday, and position yourself so that the sun is behind a chimney or rooftop to your right. Blocking the sun is always essential if you're looking anywhere close to the sun. WARNING:Never look directly at the sun with your unaided eye or through binoculars or telescopes without special light filters. Severe eye damage can result. Read More

Venus and the Mayan Calendar: "The serpent depicted on the building was a representation of the Mayan deity Kukulcan, known by the Aztecs as Quetzlecoatl, which is also identified with the planet Venus." The good news?The world is not going to end on Dec. 21, 2012.
So says Dr. Jonathan E. Reyman, Curator of Anthropology for the Illinois State Museum, who presented "The End of Time: Maya, Aztec, Skidi-Pawnee, and Pueblo Views of the End of the World" Tuesday, March 6, at the Illinois Valley Archeological Society lecture at Dickson Mounds.
Dr. Reyman, who is responsible for the inventory and curation of Native American artifacts for the state museum, received his degree from Southern Illinois University, specializing in the American southwest. He also has experience with Native American cultures and artifacts from the eastern and midwestern portions of the U.S., as well as from Mexico and Ecuador. Read More

Thursday, March 22, 2012

When it whizzes past Earth in 2013, a newly discovered asteroid is going to miss our planet - but not by much. The 50 m space rock is expected to come closer than many satellites, highlighting the growing need to keep watch on hazards from above.
An amateur team discovered the unusual asteroid, dubbed 2012 DA14, on 22 February. Its small size and orbit meant that it was spotted only after it had flown past Earth at about seven times the distance of the Moon.
However, current predictions indicate that on its next flyby, due on 15 February 2013, it will pass Earth at just 24 000 km - closer than many commercial satellites.
"This is a safe distance, but it is still close enough to make the asteriud visible in normal binoculars," says Detlef Koschny, responsible for near-earth objects in ESA's Space Situational Awareness (SSA) office. Astronomers in Spain spot 'slippery target'The asteroid was discovered by the La Sagra Sky Survey observatory, in the southeast of Spain, near Granada, at an altitude of 1700 m, one of the darkest, least light-polluted locations on the European mainland.
"Considering its path in the morning sky, its rather fast angular motion, the quite faint and fading brightness and its orbit high above the plane of Earth's orbit, it was a slippery target - and easily could have escaped undetected during this Earth visit," says Jaime Nomen, one of the discoverers.
The team use several automated telescopes to scan the sky, and the discovery came somewhat serendipitously after they decided to search areas of the sky where asteroids are not usually seen. Read More

March 21 is a nice enough day, as far as this year's 366 go.
It used to be known as the first day of spring. But due to some scientific mumbo jumbo, spring's official arrival date has changed. The Farmer’s Almanac explains that the earth’s elliptical orbit is changing its orientation, which causes the earth’s axis to constantly point in a different direction. Since the seasons are defined as beginning at strict 90-degree intervals, these positional changes affect the time the earth reaches each 90-degree location in its orbit around the sun. The pull of gravity from the other planets also affects the earth's orbit.
Bottom line: Spring 2012 arrived at 2:14 a.m. CDT March 20.
But you can still say March 21 is the first full day of spring.
It also is the birth date for a diverse group of famous people including Johann Sebastian Bach, Matthew (Ferris Bueller) Broderick, Florenz Ziegfeld, and, not-so-famously, me.
Last year’s March 21 was a cause of celebration: Dinner with my cousins at an upscale Italian restaurant in Chicago; an all-expenses-paid trip to New York, compliments of my Manhattan-dwelling brother; and tickets to the Paul McCartney concert at Wrigley Field from the rest of my family. All in all, that was a pretty spectacular way to mark my 60th.
So today, I am 61. A milestone of import to no one other than myself. No fanfare today. No dinner. No trip to the Big Apple. No Paul McCartney. I am marking the day in a peculiar way: lamenting the loss of two of my favorite products, and being fearful about the future of a third. I guess in this fast-changing world, it is easy to outlive products. There's not much demand these days for manual typewriters, skate keys or transistor radios.
I have been collecting a Christmas dishware pattern since 1986. Over the years, I have accumulated 92 pieces—mugs, cake plates, round-, square-, rectangle- and oval-shaped serving pieces, water pitcher, cookie jar, matching salt-and-pepper shakers. It made a convenient Christmas gift idea for my family and friends. A couple of months ago, I received a chilling email announcing that the pattern will no longer be manufactured, urging fans to get the remaining pieces while the getting is good.
A favorite fragrance of mine was recently discontinued. It provided a pleasant smell at a reasonable price. It had been around only since 2002, so imagine my surprise when I tried to purchase some and was told it is no longer being made. I really liked it. Not heavy or musky or flowery or we-just-walked-in-the-rain-y. Now what am I to do? I may have return to the way I smelled before 2002.
But the news that really sent shivers down my spine: Hostess filed for bankruptcy in January. The future of Twinkies, Ho Hos and my favorite—CupCakes—is threatened. I have grown up with those two sweet little cakes, packaged just for me. I would save my 25-cent allowance to buy a package, enjoy it and not feel guilty that it was one thing I did not share with my four younger siblings.
Hostess, which survived the Great Depression, finds itself in trouble for reasons other companies now say they are in trouble: Its current cost structure "is not competitive, primarily due to legacy pension and medical benefit obligations and restrictive work rules." With all the Hostess CupCakes I have consumed, I think I could have helped the company’s cash flow. The company will continue to produce its goodies while it is in bankruptcy court.
What life-lesson have I learned today that will help me reach my 62nd March 21?
Carpe diem and carpe all the Hostess CupCakes that I can.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Ghosts, angels, spirits--are they real or a figment of your imagination? Oprah interviews Jonas Elrod about his ability to see these spiritual visions and energies. Then, don't miss the exclusive TV premiere of Jonas' film, Wake Up.
The spiritual path can be a colossal pain. I find nothing in it to be romanticized though Hollywood has tried. It is work, real work. That being said taking this journey has been the best decision I've ever made. It was a decision that as I look back now, was offered time and again but I either ignored it or I missed it. That's how this works. You get opportunities throughout your life to work on your problems. It's up to you to recognize it and choose to do it.
I think it's great that someone can have the perfect posture when doing advanced yoga, or when someone can meditate for 8 hours straight and go to the far reaches of the galaxy. Cool, I guess. But what does that mean? Does it make you happy? Does it connect you to the giant light bulb in the sky? Does it help you in the singles circuit? Nothing against meditation or yoga -- I meditate fairly regularly and tried yoga a handful of times -- but the point I am making is the practice is not the path.
My spiritual awakening happened eight years ago when I began having wild metaphysical experiences. One night I saw and heard spirits, geometry floating through space and energy around people. Still with me? You don't have to believe me, but it propelled me onto a path so hard and fast it'd make your head spin. This ability has been with me ever since. Cue the organ and dry ice! I know how it sounds and when discussed publicly I am usually met with lots of questions or sometimes, relief. And sometimes skepticism. My lack of belief in such things quickly went away as these experiences became a part of my everyday life. Needless to say it scared the hell out of me at first but it also got me to where I am today: Happy. Woah, what a word, right? Read More

Almost six years ago, I was the editor of a single-topic issue on energy for Scientific American that included an article by Princeton University’s Robert Socolow that set out a well-reasoned plan for how to keep atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations below a planet-livable threshold of 560 ppm. The issue came replete with technical solutions that ranged from a hydrogen economy to space-based solar.
If I had it to do over, I’d approach the issue planning differently, my fellow editors permitting. I would scale back on the nuclear fusion and clean coal, instead devoting at least half of the available space for feature articles on psychology, sociology, economics and political science. Since doing that issue, I’ve come to the conclusion that the technical details are the easy part. It’s the social engineering that’s the killer. Moon shots and Manhattan Projects are child’s play compared to needed changes in the way we behave.A policy article authored by several dozen scientists appeared online March 15 in Science to acknowledge this point: “Human societies must now change course and steer away from critical tipping points in the Earth system that might lead to rapid and irreversible change. This requires fundamental reorientation and restructuring of national and international institutions toward more effective Earth system governance and planetary stewardship.”
The report summarized 10 years of research evaluating the capability of international institutions to deal with climate and other environmental issues, an assessment that found existing capabilities to effect change sorely lacking. The authors called for a “constitutional moment” at the upcoming 2012 U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio in June to reform world politics and government. Among the proposals: a call to replace the largely ineffective U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development with a council that reports to the U.N. General Assembly, at attempt to better handle emerging issues related to water, climate, energy and food security. The report advocates a similar revamping of other international environmental institutions.
Unfortunately, far more is needed. To be effective, a new set of institutions would have to be imbued with heavy-handed, transnational enforcement powers. There would have to be consideration of some way of embracing head-in-the-cloud answers to social problems that are usually dismissed by policymakers as academic naivete. In principle, species-wide alteration in basic human behaviors would be a sine qua non, but that kind of pronouncement also profoundly strains credibility in the chaos of the political sphere. Some of the things that would need to be contemplated: How do we overcome our hard-wired tendency to “discount” the future: valuing what we have today more than what we might receive tomorrow? Would any institution be capable of instilling a permanent crisis mentality lasting decades, if not centuries? How do we create new institutions with enforcement powers way beyond the current mandate of the U.N.? Could we ensure against a malevolent dictator who might abuse the power of such organizations?
Behavioral economics and other forward-looking disciplines in the social sciences try to grapple with weighty questions. But they have never taken on a challenge of this scale, recruiting all seven billion of us to act in unison. The ability to sustain change globally across the entire human population over periods far beyond anything ever attempted would appear to push the relevant objectives well beyond the realm of the attainable. If we are ever to cope with climate change in any fundamental way, radical solutions on the social side are where we must focus, though. The relative efficiency of the next generation of solar cells is trivial by comparison.

On March 16th, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which expands upon a prior order issued in 1950 for Disaster Preparedness, and gives the office of the President complete control over all the resources in the United States in times of war or emergency.
The National Defense Resources Preparedness order gives the Executive Branch the power to control and allocate energy, production, transportation, food, and even water resources by decree under the auspices of national defense and national security. The order is not limited to wartime implementation, as one of the order's functions includes the command and control of resources in peacetime determinations. Read More

"The enormous fault off the coast of the Pacific Northwest has been silent for three centuries. But after years of detective work, geologists have discovered that it can unleash mayhem on an epic scale."

by Jerry Thompson
Just over one year ago, a magnitude-9 earthquake hit the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan, triggering one of the most destructive tsunamis in a thousand years. The Japanese—the most earthquake-prepared, seismically savvy people on the planet—were caught off-guard by the Tohoku quake’s savage power. Over 15,000 people died.
Now scientists are calling attention to a dangerous area on the opposite side of the Ring of Fire, the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a fault that runs parallel to the Pacific coast of North America, from northern California to Vancouver Island. This tectonic time bomb is alarmingly similar to Tohoku, capable of generating a megathrust earthquake at or above magnitude 9, and about as close to Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver as the Tohoku fault is to Japan’s coast. Decades of geological sleuthing recently established that although it appears quiet, this fault has ripped open again and again, sending vast earthquakes throughout the Pacific Northwest and tsunamis that reach across the Pacific.
What happened in Japan will probably happen in North America. The big question is when. Read More

Monday, March 12, 2012

[In Vedic Astrology Jupiter is the great benefic; Venus is the lesser benefic.--Lori]

(Discovery News) The two brightest planets in the sky, Venus and Jupiter, will likely draw attention to the western sky as darkness falls this week.
Planetariums, observatories and perhaps even weather forecast offices might get a number of inquiries about what those "two bright lights in the sky" are.
On Monday evening (March 12) they'll appear to line up side-by-side, and on Tuesday evening (March 13), they will be separated by just 3 degrees (about the width of two fingers held out at arm's length), with Venus standing just above and to Jupiter's right.
Shining in a completely dark sky for more than two hours before finally disappearing beyond the west-southwest horizon after 10:30 p.m. local daylight time, this planetary pair may appear even more eerie when they're sitting just above the horizon as opposed to when they appear higher in the sky.
There are also three interesting aspects concerning this eye-catching configuration.Eight Times Brighter
When the planets are closest, Venus will glow at magnitude -4.3, while Jupiter will shine at -2.1 on astronomers' magnitude scale in which lower numbers correspond to brighter objects (negative numbers suggest an extremely bright view). Read More

Saturday, March 10, 2012

IF WE believe the Mayans, then Doomsday is just round the corner and the world is about to end. Many people feel that it is the truth as there has been changes in the climate, sudden tremors as earthquakes and many more natural imbalances indicate that a large-scale disaster, out of the blue, can't be ruled out.

Adding to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the solar wind generated magnetic storm on earth has intensified. As reported in The Times of India, the storm occurred in the Sun at 4:24 am on Wednesday. As per NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, the magnetic field orientation needed to cause strong geomagnetic storming finally occurred overnight, so although it got off to a slow start, levels have reached to what was predicted. This in turn would harm the satellites orbiting Earth, as it did in 1989 in Quebec.Shortly after the storm on the Earth, the European Space Agency's Venus Express temporarily malfunctioned, which is known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), but as per the controllers they have now restored the spacecraft to normal operations. According to them it is a major event that has occurred so far this year. Read More

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Lori Toye is known for the I AM America maps. Given to her in a dream by four white robed teachers, the first map rolled out in 1989. Those teachers offered details of earth changes that could change the shape of the United States and the maps vary to spell out the range from minor to major surface alteration. The work didn't stop there. The teachers also offered instructions and advice on what we might do to avoid a worst case scenario. Emerging from a time of maintaining a low profile, Lori now has new information and a new map. Find out more on this edition of Conscious Living.

More than 20 years after publication of the I AM America Earth Changes Map, which delineated the physical changes in the geography of our country, Lori Toye continues her work with more in-depth information relevant to what is occurring now.The map was published before public awareness of the effects of global warming and climate change, and it incorporated the locations of Golden Cities - or safe havens - sustainable places to live during a time of upheaval.Her work has progressed into a series of books regarding the Golden Cities. These new publications correlate and expand on the information provided in the first “I AM America Map.”Her research continues to guide and enrich our spiritual growth and understanding of these beginning times, prophesied to begin in the 21st century, more than 6000 year ago.You can check the I AM America website for more information on the Golden Cities. Listen to Interview

Last year’s 9.0-magnitude Tohoku-Oki, Japan, earthquake was the fourth largest since 1900. However, because of thousands of seismometers in the region and Japan’s willingness to share their measurements with the rest of the world, the Tohoku-Oki quake is the best-recorded earthquake of all-time.

This plethora of information is allowing scientists to share their findings in unique ways. Zhigang Peng, associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, has converted the earthquake’s seismic waves into audio files. The results allow experts and general audiences to “hear” what the quake sounded like as it moved through the earth and around the globe.

“We’re able to bring earthquake data to life by combining seismic auditory and visual information,” said Peng, whose research appears in the March/April edition of Seismological Research Letters. “People are able to hear pitch and amplitude changes while watching seismic frequency changes. Audiences can relate the earthquake signals to familiar sounds such as thunder, popcorn popping and fireworks.”

The different sounds can help explain various aspects of the earthquake sequence, including the mainshock and nearby aftershocks. For example, this measurement was taken near the coastline of Japan between Fukushima (the nuclear reactor site) and Tokyo. The initial blast of sound is the 9.0 mainshock. As the earth’s plates slipped dozens of meters into new positions, aftershocks occured. They are indicated by “pop” noises immediately following the mainshock sound. These plate adjustments will likely continue for years.Read More

The world's oceans are turning acidic at what could be the fastest pace of any time in the past 300 million years, even more rapidly than during a monster emission of planet-warming carbon 56 million years ago, European and US scientists say in a new study.

Looking back at that bygone warm period in Earth's history could offer help in forecasting the impact of human-spurred climate change, researchers said of a review of hundreds of studies of ancient climate records published in the journal Science.
Quickly acidifying seawater eats away at coral reefs, which provide habitat for other animals and plants, and makes it harder for mussels and oysters to form protective shells. It can also interfere with small organisms that feed commercial fish like salmon. Read More

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About LORI TOYE

Author and mystic Lori Toye has written fourteen books dealing with geographic changes in the Earth and how we can respond to these changes to create peace and harmony and advance our own spiritual growth and self-development. Topics include "Building the Seamless Garment - Revealing the Secret Teachings of Ascension and the Golden Cities," a book filled with lessons that focus on the hidden teachings of Ascension - the spiritual and mental process and the spiritual techniques that can free us from the confines of the need to reincarnate. Toye also created the first Earth Changes Map in 1989 delineating future changes to the Earth's geography, as well as the I AM America Atlas, a full color atlas of the I AM America Maps, featuring many new maps and prophecies. Originally published more than 20 years ago before public awareness of the serious environmental issues of Global Warming and Climate Change, Lori has been featured on NBC, FOX, UPN, London's Carlton Television, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.